User blog:Galeforce's Wrath/A Tale of Darkness: Prologue
“Karl?” “KARL?!” The blue-haired summoner jumped at the sudden blast of sound that had hit him in his left eardrum. “Lin?” “Karl! I finally got to you! Listen, we’ve got a huge problem that you and Seria need to fix!” Seria turned to Karl, leaning on her blade. “What’s up?” She whispered. Karl shrugged, though a look of concern had plastered itself all over his face. “Two of our summoners just went missing at Breeze Beach in Morgan after they called in a demon sighting!” “Ok, Seria and I are heading there right now.” “Karl, be careful. Those two are both raid class 3, and from what I could gather, they were pretty beaten up by whatever attacked them.” “I understand, Lin. We’ll give you a report once we get there.” Karl and Seria ran as fast as they could towards Breeze Beach, hoping that they’d make it in time. ---- Breeze Beach, in the land of Morgan, is a very popular spot for new summoners. With the modest assortment of creatures that one could encounter there, many summoners usually stay for a day or two to bolster their ranks with new units, much more powerful than those of Mistral’s, before heading off on their journey. It is not frequented by many seasoned or veteran summoners, however, as Morgan in general isn’t a location that many come back to, except for when one needs to capture spirits for unit evolution and the vortex gates are closed. However, it IS a spot where some summoners decide to schedule reunions with their old adventuring friends, as it’s usually quiet (in terms of other people) and most all of the creatures there tend to stay away from stronger summoners, unlike just about anywhere else. This is important because it is this place, and the reason, that our story begins. ---- minutes earlier “Kyren, when are we gonna sit down? We’ve been standing here waiting for everyone else for HOURS.” Groaned the younger of the two brothers. “If you want to be able to get into the Akras Summoner’s Hall, you need to be able to at least stay on your feet for a few hours.” Kyren replied, half-jokingly. “But you’re not in the Hall, why should you care?” The sibling asked. “We can go and sit on that fallen tree over there.” Kyren pointed to the treeline, avoiding the question. The two walked over to the tree and sat down, sinking into the thick layer of moss that had accumulated on it. “Why aren’t you in the hall?” “Veyrn, I already told you, I just couldn’t pass the test.” “But Mom said something about you only being able to summon one unit…” Kyren got up from the tree trunk and stared his little brother in the eyes. “You listen here, don’t you EVER say anything about that EVER again, am I UNDERSTOOD?” Kyren scolded his brother. Veyrn nods, startled by his brother’s sudden outburst. Kyren slumped over. “Listen, I’m sorry… it’s just… whenever anyone mentions it, it sorta hurts.. You know?” Veryn nods again, and walks over to his brother, giving him a tight hug. “You know that saying, nothing is impossible? Nobody would be saying it if it weren’t true.” Veryn said soothingly. “Sometimes I wonder who’s really the older one…” Kyren stated quietly. Veryn released his brother and looked out towards the beach’s shoreline. “Isn’t that them?” He asked, pointing to the group of summoners. Kyren looked over and nodded. He ran across the sand towards them, waving. “Guys! Over here!” The group turned towards Kyren and ran towards him. They met halfway, and lost each other in a huge group hug. “It’s been forever since I saw you guys!” Kyren exclaimed. “Yeah, two years is a long time.” Stated the Mage of the group. “Any of you make it into the Hall??” Kyren asked, eager to congratulate them if they did. “Xevx and Zeltah did, passed with flying colors.” Stated the Mage. Kyren congratulated the two and led the group to the treeline. “What now?” Kyren asked. Xevx and Zeltah both summoned their units. Xevx with his Lidith and Lario, and Zeltah with her Edea and Aem. Veryn summoned his Dean, Alice, and Leon. Kyren finished the summoning with his Will. “Still not using units, Xele?” Kyren asked. “Xenon doesn’t like people.” Xele replied. The group caught up with one another whilst the units mingled and talked. It was a very social occasion. It was then that a Lamia flew past the group and landed in the sand, being killed instantly. Up until this point, nobody had seen any monsters at all at the beach. “You two are Raid Class 3s, so you can handle whatever did that, right?” Xele asked cautiously. “It was probably a behemoth, even Veryn could beat one.” The loud, blood-chilling roar cemented the belief that whatever it was wasn’t some normal monster. “I think it’d be best that we like, NOT find out what that is… right?” Kyren asked. “I’ll call it in.” Xevx stated, placing a finger on his ear. “Lin? Yeah, it’s me, Xevx. Do you have any word on any demons out near Breeze Beach in Morgan? We can’t figure out whatever the hell is out he--” Before he could finish the sentence, a massive blue dragon-like creature with red horns and back spikes stepped into the clearing. “THAT is NOT GOOD!!” Xevx screamed. The creature roared and tore a chunk of earth out of the ground and hurled it at the group. Everyone scattered, trying to get out of the way. The piece of earth smashed into the ground and sent sand flying everywhere, creating a dust cloud. “Both my units are down!” Cried out Xevx from the cloud. The summoners stumbled around with their limited visibility, hoping to get out of the open and into the safety of the trees. “Is everyone okay?!” Called out Kyren. Whatever response there would have been was drowned out by the creature’s roar again as it prepared to attack. There was a loud crack, followed by a bright flash of light. It had fired a thunderbolt at someone. This happened twice more before the dust cloud finally cleared. Dean and Alice were nowhere to be seen. “Lin, we need help out here!” Xevx called. The creature’s attention was drawn to Xevx. Everyone collectively realized this and tried to get the creature’s attention, but it was set on Xevx. He bolted, trying to outrun the creature, but it pounced on him, crushing him instantly with its’ claws. “XEVX!!!” Screamed everyone at the same time. A choked cry rose from Veryn. The creature picked up it’s paw and held it towards its’ face. It sent a massive jolt of electricity through its’ claws, frying Xevx’s body instantly. All that remained of him was his sword and his shield, as they were the only things not burnt to a crisp. The two clattered down the monster’s massive claw and landed in the sand. “Xevx called it in, are we staying or are we getting the hell out of here?!” Kyren called out from the shoreline, having found himself there when the dust cleared, away from everyone else. “Nothing from Lin!” Replied Zeltah from somewhere amongst the treeline. The monster set his eyes on it’s next target: Xele. “What the hell are you doing in the open then?! Get to the trees!” Kyren yelled, frustrated. Kyren dashed towards the beast, beginning to charge up a rune as he did. “Hey, yeah, you! Biggo! Whatever you are! HEY! LISTEN UP YOU 10-TON BUFFOON!!” Kyren screamed as he charged. The beast ignored him, keen on his much more interesting mage prey. “He’s on me!” Cried out Xele, breaking into a run, knowing that he was stuck as bait. “You want this?!” Xele screamed as he summoned a storm of icicles which quickly enveloped the monster. It roared in both annoyance and pain as hundreds of dagger-like projectiles of ice hit it from all angles. The spell was strong, strong enough to make the beast stagger and trip over itself. Xele rolled to the side as the monster toppled forward towards him. “I did it! I got hi--” The beast took a swipe at Xele, hitting him clean in the chest and sent him flying towards the trees. Xele flailed through the air, unable to correct himself and crashed into the trunk that Kyren and Veryn had sat on prior, his back and everything in it shattering almost instantly. He slid off the trunk and onto the ground, twitching slightly before taking his last breath. “XELE!!” Cried Kyren. Zeltah and Veryn both rushed over to the crumpled mess that was once their friend. Kyren finished charging the rune and fired it at the beast. A pulse of light energy zoomed towards the monster and hit it, sending the massive beast flying a few hundred feet. It landed in the water, enraging the beast. It stood up and let loose a current of thunder through the water, killing anything within at least a mile that was unfortunate enough to be within range. The thundering of footsteps and trees falling over caught the summoners attentions. Bursting out of the trees came a Granomus, likely attracted by all the commotion on the beach. The Granomus saw the monster and rushed towards it. Although it had the element disadvantage, the monster took one swipe at the Granomus and killed it instantly. The Granomus disappeared into a glowing dust, never to be seen again. “So much for help…” Kyren muttered. The initial shock of Xele’s and Xvex’s deaths faded quickly, as everyone knew that there was no way to save them, past or present. They had to survive, else the two would have died in vain. “Kyren! Watch out!” Called Zeltah from the treeline. Kyren spun around to see the huge claw heading towards him. “CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!” Kyren yelled at the monster. He looked down at his feet and casted an explosive rune on the ground, sending him flying out of the way. The monster’s claw buried itself in the sand where Kyren had been mere seconds before. It lifted it’s claw to reveal nothing but the shards of glass left in the wake of the explosion. Kyren lifted himself up out of the sand, scraped up but alive and very well. “That all you got?!” Kyren yelled from his position, a hundred or so feet from the treeline. This made the monster PISSED. It lunged towards Kyren, whom was waiting with a rune prepared. A faint halo had appeared around him at this point. “Too slow.” Kyren muttered to himself as he was launched into the air. The monster barreled past Kyren, whom landed haphazardly on the monster’s back. Kyren slid across the monster’s back before he got a grasp to one of the spikes, which he held tightly to, looking for a weak point. His eyes grazed the top of the creature's head, finally resting on one point. Between his horns, towards the back of its head, he had spotted a seemingly undefended patch of weakened scales. The monster whipped around, trying to dislodge its unwelcome guest. Kyren grabbed onto one of the pink crystal spikes and held on for dear life. His waist seemed much lighter after the shaking had stopped, and found that his blade and its sheathe had snapped off of his belt. Laying several feet away, the blade hung precariously close the edge of the monsters’ head. Just as he was about to make a move towards his weapon, the monster charged towards one of the other group members, but the view of the ground below was impeded by the massive towering horns extending from the sides of the monster’s head and the sea of green-turquoise scales that made up the creature’s scalp. Kyren held on to the spike, watching helplessly as his blade clattered around on the scales before disappearing off the edge of the creature’s head. “I'll get it back later.” Kyren muttered to himself. ---- “Over here!” Karl yelled to Seria. The two had been running all the way to Breeze Beach through the Nocturnal Forest. Surprisingly enough, no monsters had appeared to block their way so they made record progress through the undergrowth and maze of trees. “Just past this alcove should be the beach!” Karl called back to Seria, whom had fallen ten or so feet behind him. The beast’s roars finally caught the ears of the two summoners. “That sounds like a Golvorg!” Yelled Seria to Karl. “Let's hurry!” Called Karl in response. ---- Zeltah laid in the sand next to Xele’s body, and played dead. The monster hopefully couldn’t tell the difference. The beast had charged at her and Veryn, whom had also been knocked away by the beast’s massive claws. She could not see Veryn nor Kyren, but she knew that everyone was on their own. Unbeknownst to her, Veryn had been hit directly by the beast’s claws, tearing his lower half from his upper. The beast was vicious, and all of their units had already been forced to return after being completely obliterated by the beast’s lightning barrages. All she could do was not move and hope for the best. Kyren waited for the monster to stop moving before making a bolt for the weak spot. The creature, feeling the vibrations of the human’s footsteps, began to whip it’s head around and run around, trying to shake Kyren off. Kyren’s feet gave way from underneath him, as there was nothing for them to stay on. Kyren was thrown off the beast’s head, beginning his unplanned trip to the sand below. He flailed about whilst toppling through the air, nearing the ground more and more… ...closer… ...and closer… ...the last sound that came from Kyren wasn’t from his vocal cords, but from his bones. ---- Karl and Seria broke through the underbrush and onto the beach. Their clothes and weapons tinted a light green from the plants that they had run through. “There!” Seria yelled, pointing to the beast. The Golvorg looked to the pair and realized that they wouldn't be as easy prey, and summoned a huge, raging storm. The once calm, lapping waves transformed into savage wolves tearing into the shore like it’s prey. The water quickly made it’s way towards the trees, stopping just before ¾ mark of the beach. Karl and Seria were battered by the winds, trying not to get knocked over. Then the storm stopped. Karl and Seria looked around, seeing the cause of the clearer weather. A summoner stood at the treeline, casting a series of spells keeping the tempest out of their specific portion of the beach. Karl and Seria wasted no time rushing towards the Golvorg. The creature was still confused as to why it’s storm had stopped. The Golvorg tried to summon another storm, but found that although it could be summoned, nothing was happening. Zeltah held the runes in place, making sure that Karl and Seria wouldn't have any interference in their battle with the Golvorg. Seria ran along the treeline whilst Karl ran adjacent to the shore. Seria took a quick glance at Zeltah, trying to remember her, but couldn't do so that quickly. Karl reached the Golvorg first, summoning a flurry of icicles that launched themselves at Golvorg. Seria got within striking range and leaped towards the Golvorg’s chest. She jumped up it’s leg and got to where she wanted, swinging her sword in an arc over her head. Flames dashed around it as the very air sizzled with heat. The blade made contact, leaving a massive glowing red wound across the monster’s chest. The Golvorg roared in pain and swung it’s claws at Seria and Karl, missing both times. The two summoners used the Golvorg’s arms as stairs, both running up and converging at the beast’s head. Both unleashed their most powerful attacks, disappearing amidst roaring flames and crackling ice. The two leapt off, both perfectly landing, not a scratch on them. The Golvorg fell forward, slamming into the sand with a loud crash. It's massive head rolled off, seared clean with burn and frost marks around the area that was cut off. Karl and Seria both sighed with relief. “That wasn’t too bad…” Karl stated. “That Golvorg had no chance.” Seria smugly replied. Karl and Seria walked over to Zeltah. “Were you the one that called this in?” Karl asked. “No, he did.” Zeltah said grimly, pointing to the scorched sword and shield lying in the sand twenty or so feet away. Karl nodded. “Was there… anyone else?” He asked. Zeltah pointed to Xele, then Veryn. “Kyren was here, he’s Veryn’s brother.” Zeltah stated, pointing to Veryn’s body again. “Do you know where he is?” Seria asked. “I was… playing dead after the Golvorg hit me… I couldn't see anything.” Zeltah said, ashamed. “Hey, you're alive. Don't worry about how you went about it.” Karl said, trying to comfort the summoner who was on the verge of breaking down. Category:Blog posts